Perfect Accuracy
by StellasProdigy
Summary: Months after the battle in New York and the Avengers have hit a sort of plateau. Bruce has a job, Tony's rescuing cats, Natasha's kicking butt, Steve's in the gym, and Barton is MIA. A run in with the feisty ex-marine Samantha Saunders changes the Avenger's lives forever. Why's Loki baking? And where do Scott Summers and our favorite mutants come in all of this? *UNDER REWRITES*
1. Chapter 1

**This is a little something that came to me last night and just thought I would give it a shot to see how it goes. This is only my second story that I have uploaded to so if you see any typos, just ignore it for now. I will eventually come back once I've finished it and edit it. Anyway this I my crack at Avengers and X-Men. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers, X-Men, or any of the characters related to the franchise of either. I only possess the rights of all of my OCs.**

* * *

Steve Rodgers usually come to the gym late at night because then everyone would be gone and he wouldn't have to worry about others gawking at him as his fists pounded against the punching bags until they flew off their handles. He always brought his own spare to replace the ones that he broke and that was the only reason the only didn't mind when he did so. But today was different.

After the New York Battle fiasco with Loki Steve and the rest of his team, the Avengers, had it a sort of plateau. There wasn't really anything much to do lately. Crime had been at an all-time low and what little crime there was, it was merely petty crimes that could quickly be dealt with.

Dr. Bruce Banner has decided to rejoin society after the mess a few months ago and needed some semblance of normality. Dr. Banner accepted a position at the New York General Hospital and occasionally volunteers his time over at SHIELD when the need arises.

Romanoff did as she did best, kick ass while looking gorgeous. She continued to take assignments from Fury and SHIELD for international cases that the usual agents couldn't handle. But Natasha, he just got comfortable enough around her to call her that has definitely loosened up to her new teammates. She even calls in to check up on them from time to time and to let them know what's going on. Her tough exterior has a little, but none of them were idiots. They still knew not to mess with the Russian assassin.

Barton was a completely different story. No one has really seen or heard from him since the debacle a few months ago and he's been hard to get in touch with and locate. SHIELD can't get a location on him despite all of their technology and even Stark is finding it a challenge to find the guy. But he is named Hawkeye for a reason. Steve knew that Barton just needed to get away for a while and wanted to go under the radar. He's probably just sticking to the sky right now to avoid cameras and other people recognizing him. Steve couldn't imagine what it would be like to be possessed by the insanity that is Loki Laufeyson.

Speaking of out of this world, Thor is currently in here in New York with Jane. They have gotten really close since the ordeal with his brother. Of course it didn't happen at first. A couple months after locking up Loki safely, he returned back to Earth to see his beloved Jane. The welcome reception wasn't exactly as he had imagined it-a very hard slap to the face delivered by hers truly. But after a lot of talking, and a couple more hits, they finally reconciled and picked up where they left off. He even introduced Jane to the Avengers. Darcy Lewis was a spitfire that enjoyed making Steve blush as much as she could, so he has spent many days locked in the bathroom to avoid her.

But Steve wasn't here in the gym at 1 o'clock in the afternoon risking the wrath of any crazy fans or the penetrating stares he most likely will receive because of a missing archer, a doctor, a terrifying Russian assassin, or even a feisty brunette, no he was here because of Stark. Just the mere thought of Stark can send Steve's blood boiling. You'd think dating Pepper would calm Stark down or at least make him tolerable, but no! Stark still enjoyed to make fun of Steve as often as he could. The little cracks about Steve being from a different time were tolerable, but the ones that he would make hinting about his lack of sexual experience drove him over the edge.

He needed to get out of that stupid, ugly tower and as far away from Stark as he possibly could. Steve wore a pair of gray sweatpants that hung loose on his hips, a pair of old sneakers, and a wife beater tank. He made sure to grab his gray hoodie with the hood and the draw string to cover his face and kept his head low as he entered the gym. He was shocked to find the place silent and empty as he entered. He looked around and didn't see anyone and he relaxed.

Taking off his hoodie and throwing it on top of his gym bag that he placed on a bench near the punching bags he wrapped his hands up in preparation. He only did this as a precaution. It would look odd if someone were to come and to see him punching the bags as hard as he will be with no cuts or scrapes on his knuckles. The serum would heal him up too fast.

Steve was in the zone as he imagined it to be Tony Stark's face that he was terrorizing and he didn't hear the door to the gym opening. He didn't notice the small patter of a dozen pairs of feet entering the gym or the hushed murmurs or giggles as he continued to beat on the punching bag. It wasn't until the punching bag flew against the other side of the gym and hitting the wall with an exhausted puff that he noticed a slow clapping noise.

Steve spun around to see twelve little faces looking at him with a mixed reaction of awe, disbelief, and a hint of fear. All of their little jaws were dropped and their eyes wide. But his eyes swung to the woman beside them who continued to clap at a lazy pace. She was a small little thing, most were compared to Steve stature, but even by normal standards she was tiny.

The woman couldn't be nay taller than 5'3 and couldn't weigh more than 150 soaking wet. She had smooth caramel skin and long dark curls that were dyed at the end and fell down to her curvy hips. Steve could feel the heat rush to his cheeks as he took in the woman's curvy figure. She was slim and short, but her body was filled out in all of the right places with a tiny waist, giving her an hourglass figure. And she had really tiny feet.

A cleared throat brought Steve back to the woman's face that now had a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk to her full lips. She had a small nose that fit her apple-shaped face. Her cheeks were a little chubby but he could make out small indentations on each side from dimples that were used often when she smiled or laughed. He blushed again at being caught staring.

"That…was…awesome!" The exclamation from an overeager little brought the two out of their staring contest. The gym filled with chatter from the children beside the women.

Steve blushed even more at the praise and awe from the children. He still wasn't used to the praise he would get from other people.

"Could you do that again?" the same hyper kid from before asked Steve.

"Uh…"

"Dominick, I'm sure he's a little tired from the last time. Maybe he'll do it again later if you ask again," the woman replied. Her voice wasn't as he expected. It was strong and authoritative in a husky and sensual way, but still soft and kind enough to calm the child. He nodded again a little sad, but then perked back up at the thought of the large man doing something cool again later.

"Okay," the child agreed.

"Why don't you guys go and get changed and meet me back out here in five minutes so that we can get started?" the woman instructed the children and they ran off excitedly to the dressing rooms.

"Um, I didn't—"

"You didn't know that we'd be here?" she asked, already knowing what he'd say. Steve could only nod. She strolled casually over to Steve and held out a hand to him. When she stood in front of him the height difference between the two was even more apparent. She still was a few inches shorter than his shoulders, but she stood far enough back so she didn't have to crane her neck to look up at him.

"I'm Sam," she introduced herself holding out her dainty hands to Steve. Steve took it and was surprised at her strong grip. "I volunteer at the Boys &amp; Girls Club in Brooklyn and bring the kids here every Tuesday afternoon. Jim, the owner lets me reserve the gym for a couple of hours every Tuesday to let the kids come here and enjoy themselves. I see you didn't get the memo."

Steve smiled abashedly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, sorry. I usually never come here during the day. I just needed to get out today, and I apologize Ma'am about intruding on your time. Er, I'm—"

"I know who you are Captain," the little slip of a woman stated with a teasing stilt. Sam took notice of Steve's change as he fidgeted nervously in front of her and rushed to explain. "My dad grew up hearing stories and reading comics from his dad about you back in the day. I naturally know who you are from reading all of your adventures in my dad's comics. I could recognize you almost anywhere."

"So, you're a, uh, fan?"

"You could sure say that again. But don't worry about me going all 'gaga' about you, or anything. I don't have a thing for blondes." He knew from the tilt of the corner of her mouth that she was teasing him now. He relaxed after that. Steve was shocked that he was so quickly able to relax around her. There was something comforting about Sam.

The rush of children's feet and excited chatter entered the gym and disrupted the silence, but Steve couldn't be annoyed by it.

Steve enjoyed his time at the gym despite his plans being ruined. Steve liked Sam. He really enjoyed her company and the children, despite their ruckus and overexcitement; he had fun playing with them. Steve could see him and Sam becoming really good friends in the future. Sam was naturally laid back and sarcastic, but for once Steve didn't mind her sarcasm or her cynic humor. She wasn't like normal girls of this time period that he was sued to. The attraction Steve and Sam shared was simply platonic, though, and they both enjoyed each other's company. Steve promised to come and help out with the children again soon.

Steve made good on his promise and visited the gym every Tuesday afternoon promptly at 1 o'clock. The children got used to his huge stature and his strength and adored him. The loved to have him chase them around the gym or pick them up and toss them in the air. Steve would never admit it aloud, but Dominick was his favorite. The little blonde boy always had a bright smile on his face that never dimmed. Steve liked to watch as Dominick would flirt with Sam. Sam good-naturedly played along and let him play in her hair or would 'protect' her from Steve whenever they played.

After a few weeks, Sam grew comfortable enough with Steve to open up with him, and he likewise. They told each other of their childhood. Steve even told her about the serum and the Super Soldier project, and Peggy. Sam listened without putting in her input. She let him just talk for hours and never interrupted him, only encouraged him to open up. Steve has never done that with anybody, not even Bucky.

Steve learned about Sam's background too. Sam's father was a Major in the U.S Air Force. He followed after his father and became a pilot, and met a woman during one of his assignments in Canada. Major Christopher Saunders settled down in Anchorage, Canada with his wife Anna and had a son they named Scott. On a trip to America one summer when Scott was seven, the back of the plane caught fire and the plane went down. Sam's father lost his pregnant wife and son in the accident. Scott's body was never found, however, and he spent years searching for him. Christopher met a black woman by the name of Valerie in New Jersey who was a detective in an effort to find his son. She had moved to America when she was thirteen from France. He didn't expect to fall in love with her and get married after only six months, but they did.

Sam had a bright smile on her face as she described how perfect her parents were for each other. Despite the obstacles they faced and discrimination from others and Valerie's family, they stayed strong. They had their first son Liam, who was conceived on their honeymoon, and then Emmet-James a year later who was nicknamed Joey. Two years later they were surprised by Darrel who was born in their anniversary. Darrel was a tough pregnancy for Valerie and Valerie was put bed rest the last four months of her pregnancy. Because of the high risk pregnancy Valerie had for Darrel, Valerie was told that the chances of conceiving were very slim, and the chances of conceiving and carrying a healthy child full term were slim to none.

Christopher was saddened by the news but had to be strong for his distraught wife. They both wanted a little girl to complete their family. Christopher wanted a mini Valerie who would become his little angel to protect and cherish. But they quickly accepted their fate and put all of their love and energy into their three boys. Christopher was shopping for Liam's sixth birthday present when he got the call from his wife about her pregnancy. He nearly crashed on the way him from driving so fast in an effort to get back to his beautiful family. He opened the door to reveal his gorgeous wife with a tear-stained face clutching her still-flat tummy.

After visiting the doctor and being warned several times of the consequences this pregnancy could have on Valerie they both agreed that it was a risk that they were willing to take. They decided to keep the gender a secret. And on the early morning of June 3, 1992 Samantha Jasmine Saunders was born. The three Saunders boys doted on their little sister and she quickly became daddy's little princess.

Steve was not at all shocked to discover that Sam graduated high school early with honors and then went on to join the Marines. She spoke so highly of her father and knew she looked up to him, so her following in his footsteps were no surprise. Sam was granted honorable leave when her mother developed Ovarian Cancer and came home to help her family care for her mother. Sam moved her entire family to New York right before the attack to get the best care for her mother that money could buy.

Liam already lived in New York as he owned a few fashion boutiques in the city. Joey back home from L.A after trying to make it big in Hollywood as an actor. He starred in a few commercials, and one low budget film before coming to the realization that it just wasn't meant to be. He's back in school now to become a pediatrician. Darrel never moved away from home. He lived with their parents working as a mechanic and owned three garages in New Jersey. He opened up another in New York and is in the process of opening another in Long Island.

Sam explained to Steve her need to stay active and help out her community so she loved to volunteer at the Boys &amp; Girls Club with the kids. She wanted to keep the boys and girls off the streets as much as possible and to show them that their world doesn't only consist of the four walls of their neighborhoods. Most were from poor families and had a lot of siblings and single parent households. Although she couldn't relate personally to the single parent homes, she wanted them to see that they did not have to become a product of their environment.

* * *

"Where you goin' Capsicle?" Steve sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes. He was already late for meeting Sam and the kids down at the gym. He was supposed to be teaching them some self-defense moves today.

"None of your business," he only replied and moved to go to the door.

"You always leave at the same time on the same day for the past month or so. I know you don't have any other friends, so what'cha up to, old man?" Steve glared at Stark. Tony Stark stared confidently back at Steve as he leaned casually back against the kitchen island with a clear glass of bourbon in his hand. It was never too early for a drink if you asked Tony.

Tony looked immaculate as always in his professionally tailored suit and freshly shaven face. His hair was perfectly styled in his usual do.

"Don't worry about what I do, Stark, or whose company I keep," Steve only said before he left the tower. Steve contemplated moving out almost on a daily basis but knew that it really was no use. Stark would always find a way to get under his skin, and SHIELD needed a way to contact him at all times. Bruce lived a floor below Steve and Natasha kept a floor ready just below Bruce just in case she wanted to stop by. Not to mention the free food and utilities.

Tony Stark watched as Steve looked both ways before crossing the street and walked down the block and around the corner before turning around to face the screen above his fireplace.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Suit me up," Stark commanded before taking one last gulp of his bourbon.

"May I ask why, sir? I do not detect any disturbances the police radio has been relatively silent today. SHIELD has not contacted me today, either."

Tony huffed, "Why must you question me so? I could've sworn I made you to obey my every command."

"Actually sir—"

"You know what, never mind Jarvis. I'll suit my own self up. It's so hard to find good help these days," Tony mumbled as he stomped down to his lab and pouted petulantly.

"Miss Potts actually finds 'help' for you sir. You just do the firing," Jarvis added in an almost teasing tone.

"I don't remember adding a 'Smart Ass' chip to your mainframe."

"Alcohol consumption of your degree tends to affect the brain and its ability to remember certain details, sir."

"Jarvis?"  
"Yes, sir?"

"Remind me to unplug you when I get back in," Tony remarked as he locked into the suit and the face portion closed.

"As you wish, sir." Jarvis drawled as though this comment was not out of the usual.

* * *

"What do we have here?" If anyone were to look up they would notice Iron Man eating a cheeseburger inside the giant donut on top of the donut shop _Holy Moly Donut Shop _across the street from _Jim's Gym_.

Tony watched as Steve entered the gym.

"Jarvis, hack into the security system of _Jim's Gym_ so that I could see what Captain Alzheimer is hiding."

"Stalking is a criminal offense, sir, and sir is the violation of the first amendment," Jarvis reiterated but obliged anyway. Tony would have said something back had he not noticed what Steve was actually up in the gym.

Tony watched in delight and shock as Steve greeted a young mixed woman as though they'd known each other for years. Children ran around the gym and greeted Steve. One particular little boy tried to jump on his back in effort to surprise him, but barely made it half way up his back. Steve laughed as he grabbed the small child and flung him up in the air effortlessly.

Tony continued to watch as Captain Gray Hair played around with the children at ease before attempting to teach them self-defense. After a while Steve and the woman sat by themselves and periodically checked on the kids while talking and laughing.

"Hm, so Cap done found himself a girl, huh?" Tony murmured to himself as he witnessed Steve give the girl a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving the gym and walking back towards the direction of the newly built Stark Tower.

"Jarvis upload the footage of this afternoon onto my 'Shame Wall' Drive. I'm gonna have a field day with this," Tony laughed in delight as he couldn't wait to see the astonished look on Cap's face when he reveals his secret.

Tony didn't understand a few things though. Why go through this whole effort to hide a secret girlfriend? It's not as if the chick's ugly, or anything. She's actually really hot. If he didn't have Pepper he'd definitely invite this girl back for a few drinks at his house before continuing in the bedroom. Cap had nothing to be ashamed of with this one, so why hide her form everyone?

"Jarvis, do a scan of facial recognition on the Cap's girl and find out everything you can about her."

"Yes sir." A minute later Jarvis chimed back in, "SHIELD is contacting you sir."

"Ugh," Tony scowled and took off, "What did the memo say?"

"That Fury will be there in 30 seconds, sir."

"Nice heads up," Tony mumbled.

* * *

"Stark, you're late. Didn't you get the heads up I sent?" Fury demanded in his usual strong voice of his but Tony barely acknowledged him as he headed for the bar still in his suit.

"Oh, yeah, the 30 second heads up was real effective. Romanoff," Tony nodded to Natasha who leaned back in his island chair cleaning off her knives. She nodded back with a small smirk on her face in amusement.

"Stark, nice to see you're still an asshole."

"It's a lot harder an image to keep up than most people think," he casually commented walking over to the counter. "It's really this wall that I put up as a defense mechanism in an effort to hide how much society really affects me and the lack of love and affection of I received from my father," he took a sip of his drink. But he couldn't hold in his laughter for long and snorted. "Eh, who am I kidding?"

Natasha snorted and continued to clean her knives as Fury just rolled his eyes and sighed in impatience. Pepper walked into the room and greeted everyone.

"And where were you all morning?" Tony turned to Pepper Potts who was dressed in her usual attire that consisted of a gray pencil skirt, white blouse, and burgundy blazer that went with her heels. She had very little jewelry on and her hair in a low bun.

"Doing your job, remember?" she snarked back, used to her boyfriend's antics. She walked over to him and replaced his glass of bourbon with a glass on water and sipping on his glass.

"Director Fury, Natasha," Pepper nodded and smiled, "What brings you here?"

Stark glared at his girlfriend's back, without any real heat in it, and grimaced as he took a sip of water.

"Jane contacted SHIELD this morning distressed after Thor was beamed back to Asgard unexpectedly. Thor just got back into contact with us a half hour ago with disturbing news. I want you to assemble the team and meet me back at SHIELD headquarters tomorrow morning."

"I don't know if it slipped your mind or you didn't notice—I wouldn't blame you though since you only have one eye—but Birdbrains is still MIA," Tony remarked not even looking up at Fury and seeing his glare.

"Barton reached out yesterday and is currently staying at SHIELD. You would know if you read the memos and didn't spend all day trying to hack us."

"How early tomorrow morning? I don't wake up before ten," Stark commented completely ignoring the end of Fury's lecture as he just glared menacingly at his glass of water as though it personally offended him.

"He'll be there at eight," Pepper announced. Fury nodded and left with Romanoff following close behind.

"Um, no, I won't," Tony shouted after them in defiance. "Why would you go and tell them that?"

"Because you will. You have a meeting at 11 o'clock with a contractor that you have already missed twice and you will meet with them tomorrow."

"Why must you always take the fun out of everything," he pouted as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him. She reached up to grab ahold of his collar and kissed him deeply.

"Is that fun enough for you?"

"I'm not sure. I think I may need a more convincing demonstration."

* * *

The Avengers assembled the next day at SHIELD headquarters. A sense of nostalgia swept across the group as they remembered the last time they gathered around this table. It feels as though it were only yesterday when Loki attacked the flying death trap and everything went to hell. Coulson was still a sore spot for the Avengers and many SHIELD agents who were close to him—well, as close as you could be to the mysterious man that was Phil Coulson. They looked at one another knowing they were all thinking along the same lines.

Bruce cleared his throat. "So…does anyone know what's going on?" Tony called Bruce while he was in the middle of a surgery. Bruce luckily didn't accidently snip any major veins or arteries when Tony startled the shit out of him.

"Pantene's got some news from outer space for us. Fury wouldn't tell me what it was exactly and had me get you guys here." Tony replied as he typed away on his tablet.

"You didn't hack into SHIELD like you always do and find out the answer yourself?" Steve sassed. Tony merely lifted and eyebrow at the dig.

"I did actually, but seeing as though the information was transferred verbally they have no on file records of the conversation."

The group collectively rolled their eyes at the billionaire. His habits have become a sort of routine for the group.

"I'm just going to ask the question that we've all been dying to find out: Where the hell have you been Barton?" All eyes swung to the brunette archer who was tweaking his bow and arrows.

"Yeah, where have you been? Everybody's been trying to get in touch with you, but you just…disappeared." Steve added.

"That is what tends to happen when one does not want to be found." The archer lazily drawled. His dark brown eyes looked up to connect with Bruce's who's shared a sense of knowing. Bruce knew exactly what it feels like to not want to be found; to want to just be left alone.

Clint felt a pair of pair of penetrating eyes looking at him and looked to his right into the eyes of his longtime friend, Natasha Romanoff, and he looked back down. She always could tell when something was off with the archer and he could do the same with her—which was one of the reasons he needed to get far away from SHIELD's radar. He knew Tasha, as he called her, would quickly discover something was wrong and would demand that he tell her. He didn't feel like talking to anyone about it because none of them would know what it was like to be in shoes, except maybe Dr. Eric Selvig, but that guy was a bag of crazy all on his own. No one know what it was like to have a psychopath inside your brain making you do and say things that you didn't want to no matter how much you didn't want to.

The group looked up at the sound of heavy boots stomping across the room to them after their tense moment of silence. Fury's expression mimicked his name and his black, leather trench coat bellowed out behind making his entrance even more dramatic.

"It looks like you all listened for once," Fury noted as he reached the table.

"Actually, Thor isn't here," Tony interrupted.

"He's on his way," Fury said curtly before Stark could say one more thing to piss him off. It was too early in the morning for his bullshit.

"How come he get to be late and I get yelled at when I am?"

"Because you're never on time, Stark, and Thor actually has a plausible excuse, unlike you. Now shut up."

"I do have excuses: I just don't feel like it."

Fury went to snap at Tony when the elevator dinged behind all of them and the Avengers stiffened as they watch Thor enter Loki cuffed beside him. Clint jumped out of his chair and tensed ready to attack Loki with his bow and arrow drawn. Natasha took note of that out of the corner of her eye and made a note to bring it up later to him.

"Be at peace friends. Loki comes bearing no ill will," Thor announced in that ricocheting voice of his.

"That was not a part of the deal." Loki drawled blankly looking around. His eyes connected with the archer's and he smirked as Clint's hands tightened around his weapon of choice.

"Barton, yield!" Fury barked. But Clint ignored the command and stood stock still, ready to pounce at any second.

"Please friends, let's discuss why Loki is here. I assure you that Midgard is not at risk with Loki here," Thor proceeded.

Tony snorted at this. "Tell that to all the lives he took and the destruction he caused, not to mention my tower, which is still under construction as we speak."

Bruce and Steve rolled their eyes at the last bit but kept their eyes locked on Loki.

"…Well, Midgard is _no longer_ at risk with Loki here," Thor corrected himself. "Please friends, I assure Loki is not a danger to anyone any longer. As his punishment, our father—"

"_Your_ father!" Loki sneered.

"—my father has revoked Loki of his powers and has lent his services to the Avengers Initiative. He must remain on Midgard until his services are no longer needed, at which time he will return back to Asgard to complete his punishment in the Sine Tempore room."

"What does that mean?" Steve asked, not knowing how putting Loki in a room is punishment for his crimes.

"_Sine Tempore_ is Latin for without time," Bruce explained, but still looked confused by the name of the room.

"Exactly, my friend," Thor responded delighted, "The room was enchanted by a great sorceress to be the only place in the universe that does not abide by the limitations of time. What will only be one year for us…" Thro trailed off.

"Will be a millennium for me," Loki finished with a blank look on his face. He pointedly ignored his brother who turned to look at him apologetically. The big oaf couldn't even begin to comprehend what it will be.

Nearly every person in the room cringed just by the thought of that room. Endless time of being all alone, no one to talk to, to see, with only your thoughts to keep you company. There is a reason humans can not be isolation for a long period of time without going insane.

"What are we supposed to do with him?" Bruce asked trying to not think about the room and the effects it will have on Loki's mind. He would not even subject his worst enemy to that kind of mental torture. Thor shrugged clueless.

"Father did not think that far ahead." Loki only rolled his eyes at his brother's idiocy.

"We could have him assist everyone in the repairs in New York," Steve suggested.

"He could start with my tower," Stark announced, "And then he could help other businesses and homes that were ruined. Once he's done with that I say we make him get jobs and work for free. The economy pretty much sucks and it would help businesses that need the employees but don't have the money. Think of it as a way to give back to the community."

"That is a wondrous idea!" Thor proclaimed raising his giant hammer in the air, narrowly missing Natasha's head.

"Fine," Fury bit. "If I can think of anything else I'll get in touch. While he's at Stark repairing I want everyone to station themselves there. I want round the clock monitoring. For the time being, the only jobs I want him at are yours'. New York knows what he looks like, I don't want to just throw him into some bakery and scare a little girl who wants a cupcake."

"Aw," Tony cooed, "You do have a heart."

Fury growled in response and exited the room as he entered, with flair. Everyone's eyes went back to the bored God who simply looked around the room in disgust.

"Boy, are we going to have some fun with you." Tony smiled bitterly at Loki.

* * *

**So, how was it? Not too shabby, huh? Let me know what you think. Leave me a review if you want or have any questions. I'll update this again after I update my other story Never Let Go. It's a Harry Potter fic with another one of my OCs. Check it out if you want.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Avengers: Age of Ultron comes out tomorrow! I have to see it. I really can't wait to see it and I am going insane just waiting for it. I thought it wouldn't be right to not update today because you all will be out seeing the movie. So here it goes. Oh, and if anyone is reading Never Let Go, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you guys. I'm working on the next chapter now.**

"Do all of you Midgardians enjoy excessive staring?" Loki drawled as he felt the penetrating stares of one particular Avenger on him. He only made contact with Tony's though, he enjoyed the man child's sense of competition. He actually he believed that he could beat the trickster God in any sort of event-even if said event is a juvenile staring contest.

The others looked up at the two imbeciles before glancing back to whatever they were previously doing. Bruce had his reading glasses on and was looking through of a few of his patients' files. He's had a pretty long 36 hours, and they were beginning to wear on him. The most troubling, though, was a this specific child's file. This folder was unusually thick with frequent hospital visits that didn't derive from his dyslexia or ADHD, although his parents have often used those to explain his frequent visits. Bruce had a pretty good idea what was really going on in the little boys' home, but he had no proof, and he had only met with the little boy and his parents once.

Despite what may be happening behind closed doors, the little boy probably had the brightest smile that he had ever seen on a child's face before. He spoke really fast and excitedly and Bruce only caught about a half of what he was really saying, but the little boy even put a smile on the brooding doctor's face. His file however, and his drunken and disheveled parents' quickly turned that smile upside down.

Natasha had one eye on her knives as she cleaned and sharpened them—which she made sure was in Loki's line of sight at all times as a warning-and the other Clint. He hasn't spoken at all since Loki was dropped off by his golden-haired brother, although he hadn't really spoken much all day anyway. She knew something was wrong him. Clint was generally a man of few words anyway, that's what partly added to his appeal, but Clint was still an easygoing person once he was relaxed. That in there laid the problem: he wasn't relaxed. Once Clint was finally convinced that Loki wasn't going to pull any of his usual tricks-yet!-he was able to unarm and sit back down, but his back remained stiff. His muscles were still tensed, and the black t-shirt that he had on strained against him.

Natasha Romanoff was no idiot. She knew that her best friend, nearly brother, was attractive. More than attractive really. She had always known, she wasn't blind. But she could never see him as anything more than that. Sure she's been tempted to push the boundaries a few times, and they've come close in the past, but one or both of them would realize what was happening and cool off before they'd do something they'd regret. It was a mutual, silent agreement that their relationship was strictly platonic, however that didn't stop the harmless and casual flirting between the two. They just got each other on a level no one before ever has. And she knew that something was bothering him really bad, despite his reluctance to say why. But she wouldn't push him. She'll just wait until he comes to her. The Black Widow chases _no_ man.

Steve laid back in his chair with his arms folded. Despite the fact that he had his eyes on Loki, his mind was not currently with them in that room. Steve was thinking about yesterday when he went to see Sam and the kids. Dominick was acting strange yesterday and was unnaturally clingy towards Sam yesterday. He gave Steve his usual greeting by jumping on his back and trying to scare him, but afterwards he barely said two words to Steve, which wasn't normal. Sam only shrugged when she noticed Dominick's strange behavior.

Thinking of Sam made a smile appear on his face. There was just no way that Steve could put into words how amazing a friend that Sam was to Steve. She was really refreshing to him, especially these days. Unlike most who knew about his other identity Sam didn't care. She treated Steve just like everyone else, he was just a guy to him. And he cherished that, a lot.

Tony noticed the smile on Steve's face out of his peripheral and immediately looked away from Loki's staring contest. He ignored the look of smug that etched itself into Loki's facial features and dug into his knapsack Pepper bought for him a while back. He didn't really where it much, but Pepper saw that he had a folder of blown up pictures that she declared would make him look silly walking around with, and suggested that he wear his knapsack she bought him. Tony would have found a way to smooth talk himself out of it, but this was Pepper, and the girl was as unmovable as a rock. A really, really heavy rock. So he sucked it up and brought his knapsack along.

_I'm comfortable enough I'm my manhood. Plus, I can make anything look good_, he convinced himself.

He dug into his knapsack and brought out a manila folder that he slammed down on the table in the center. Everyone was startled by the unexpected noise and looked up at the theatrical engineer. The cocky smile on his handsome face was enough to put everyone in the room ill at ease. Even more so Steve since Tony locked eyes with him.

"You guys will not believe what I discovered yesterday about our own resident Captain Freezer Burn."

Steve quickly tensed before relaxing. There was nothing Steve would need to hide. The only thing that came to mind was-no, there's no way Tony would know about that. He's been pretty careful about his whereabouts Tuesday afternoons.

"What exactly have you managed to dig up, Stark?" Steve challenged.

"Oh, nothing much. Just a little something I happened to come across while going for a stroll around the block."

"A stroll around the block?" Bruce whispered to the group, but more to himself. There was no way that Tony Stark just _happened _to go on a_ casual_ stroll in New York. Not unless he was up to something.

"You know that little donut shop over there on 14th, _Holy Moly Donut Shop_?" No one said anything, merely waiting for the extravagant man to continue on with his prattling. Even Loki wondered what the guy was trying to get at.

"Well, I decided to stop in and get a donut, you know. I decided to treat myself for the long walk-"

"Isn't 14th right around the corner from—?" Natasha started to ask but was cut off by Tony.

"—and I noticed that our old friend—emphasis on the old—was at the Gym," Tony says, looking pointedly at Steve.

"So. This isn't really news. We all know Steve likes to hit the gym," Clint interrupted. His posture hadn't relaxed, but at least he was talking again.

"Exactly!" Tony jumped in exclamation, pointing at Clint. "But he's usually alone-or so we assume..." Tony opened the folder to reveal screenshots that Jarvis printed out for him during his surveillance episode.

The group leaned closer curiously to try and get a better look at the photos. Steve had paled and as he noticed the pictures. The pictures made his friendship with Sam seem...well, not so friendly. Steve was smiling and at Sam, in one of them, as she watched the children with a smile on her face. The picture made it seem like he was gazing adoringly at her.

Natasha slid the photos over towards her to get a better look at them. She wore a small smirk on her face as she observed the photos. The woman in the photos wasn't what she'd expected the normally prudish Captain to go for. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she'd expected the Captain to fall for someone average in height, ordinary in looks, and was more beautiful on the inside; a regular plain Jane-Not that there was anything wrong with that. Even from the pictures she could tell this woman was a spitfire. The spark in her eyes that she could pick up (Stark's picks were really high in pixilation) was so bright that she knew the Captain wouldn't be able to tame. All in all, this is not the kind of girl she'd figured the Captain would fall for-but he didn't do bad at all.

Bruce only raised an eyebrow at the pictures. Regardless of how it depicted Steve and this woman, he was someone who knew that picture's didn't always portray the truth. But he had to say, Steve sure did a really great job at picking a beautiful woman to befriend.

Clint's eyes were drawn to the photograph. The woman in the picture was breathtaking, and this was not a reaction he really had towards women. But this woman, well there was-an excuse his corniness-but something _different _about her. She was a lot shorter than the woman he picked up, but she wasn't any less beautiful. If anything, this caramel-skinned beauty far exceeded his standards. Her hazel-green eyes were clearly made out in one of the pictures that lain in front of him. Her body was perfectly proportioned in the curvy way he preferred. Clint didn't really judge women by their shape, he didn't really care much about the women he slept with enough to create a standard, they came in all shapes and sizes and races, but he couldn't lie, there was just something sexy about a woman who wasn't afraid to eat and have cushion for the pushin'.

Even Loki's eyes were drawn to the picture, but underneath the disgust that he outwardly displayed, Steve could note a hint of lust the disturbed man had for Sam. This made Steve turn red in indignation.

"You were spying on me!" Steve shouted as he stood up. He hurriedly grabbed all of the photos of him and Sam, and even a few with some of the kids, and shoved them back in the folder before throwing them in that big machine that obliterates paper into thousands of pieces.

"Spying is such a strong word..." Tony amended.

"You had no right to follow me and take pictures of me and S-that woman!" Steve caught himself. He didn't want to reveal Sam's name.

"You were being secretive and I had nothing else to do. It's really your own fault. Had you just told me that you had a secret lover I would have left it alone."

Bruce, Natasha, and Loki snorted at this.

"Oh please. You had nothing better to do than to stalk me and take pictures of what I do and who I do it with. That's a violation of my first amendment!"

"Wow, you really take that whole Captain_ America_ thing to another level don't you," Tony mumbled to himself. "And yes, obviously you and my computer have the same thought processes. But I was not stalking. I was merely investigating your whereabouts. Besides, don't think I didn't catch that little slip you made before. Never fear, I already know everything there is to know about your little beauty."

Tony pulled out a small packet from his knapsack that only added to Steve's seething.

"I had Jarvis perform a facial recognition scanner on her-I had to make sure your new squeeze wasn't some sort of psycho, you know? Samantha Elizabeth Saunders. 24 years old, graduated high school at 16 years old, impressive, but not as impressive as graduating from MIT at 15, but whatever. Daughter of Christopher Saunders and Valerie Saunders. She has three older brothers and one half brother who passed away before her birth in a freak airplane accident-"

"Enough!" Steve shouted, fully enraged now. "You have no right to read Sam's information. Your intruding in her privacy. You've gone too far Stark!"

"I think we can all agree that I've gone father before," Tony casually added in.

Steve grabbed his leather jacket and stormed out of the room not wanting to spend another minute in the room with that infuriating man. He couldn't believe-no he could believe wholeheartedly that Stark would pull a move like this. It was none of their business about his relationship with Sam, albeit a platonic one. But they didn't need to know that much. He was a grown man and he was allowed to have a life outside of just the Avengers.

"I honestly don't see what I did wrong," Tony remarked to Pepper.

"Of course you don't Tony," Pepper sighed. She peeled his suit jacket off of him and draped it on the chaise beside his spacious bed. She then rubbed his tender shoulders as he threw his head back and sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked taking off his expensive shoes and loosening his tie.

"It only means that you don't often recognize the damage you do until it's too late," Tony's hands came up to pause hers after she said this. He turned around in his spot on the edge of the bed.

"Damage? Yeah I may have given out the girl's name and a little background to the group but I don't exactly see how that can be dangerous. If you ask me, the Captain was just being dramatic. He didn't like people looking at his squeeze." Tony shrugged and then patted Pepper's professionally manicured hands for her to continue. She rolled her eyes and gave him a soft smile even though he had already turned back around.

"Yes, Tony, damage. Did it not occur to you while you were there reading out that woman's information that Loki was sitting right beside you and may have taken an interest in her? Or would if someone hacked into your files—?"

Tony scoffed.

"You're not the only genius out there Tony, it would be ignorant to believe so. Anyway, if someone were to hack into your files and your recent search history they could easily find that woman and think that maybe you're acquainted her. You just never know how much danger you put that woman in. And don't even get me started on the spying thing. Do you understand _now _why Steve was so upset? Do you see how what you did may have been wrong?"

Pepper put one knee on the bed and knelt beside Tony bring his face towards hers so that she could look him in the eyes. Tony had always been intelligent and amazing at what he do, but his lack of-well, _many _things as a child as made him incapable of social decorum. It also made him a bit impulsive and he didn't always think of the repercussions of his actions. But Tony was a good guy, so she didn't want to put him down for what he did today.

"Yeah..." He trailed off. "I need to build a stronger firewall and tell Jarvis to delete all of my search histories."

Pepper smacked him on the shoulder. He laughed and rubbed the spot her hand hit.

"Just kidding Pep. I get what you're saying. I wasn't even paying much attention to the fact that Reindeer Games was sitting right beside me. Thor may have said that he has no powers now and is basically like the rest of us, well the rest of the _normal _humans, but the guy is still a bag of crazy."

Pepper leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek and he turned his head at just the right time purposely so that her kiss would land on his lips instead. He deepened the kiss as far as he could before Pepper pulled away with a giggle.

"Jarvis bring up the feed for me in Loki's room."

"Yes, sir."

A hazy holographic image appeared in the room and Tony could see Loki sitting on the bed in his room. Tony didn't trust Loki with a floor all to himself and damn sure didn't want him sleeping anywhere near him. So Tony put him on Bruce's floor. Bruce worked a double today and wouldn't make it home until around three am so he wouldn't be completely alone. Bruce didn't mind living with the guy, claims he's dealt with his fair share of crazies, but also the Big Guy was probably the only person who intimidated Loki.

But Loki was behaving. For now. He sat calmly on the bed stiffly with his back against the wall reading one of Bruce's books off his bookshelf. He looked to be deep in thought as he read and Tony had the sudden urge to scare him. But Pepper seemed to have read Tony's mind and stopped Tony before he could do so.

"Don't even think about it. Leave him alone. He's being civil right now. The least you could do is be civil right back."

"Pshh! Civil, that's my middle name, Red."

"Your middle name is Howard, after your father."

"Well, technically speaking, you are correct. But Tony-cally speaking, I am correct."

"...it's a good thing you're pretty and have a lot of money."

"Please, you're just lucky I'm into redheads. They usually creep me out."

"...why?"

"Have you never seen a _Chuckie _movie?"

"What's with the long face Captain Underpants?" The soft and husky voice rang next to Steve.

Steve's head jerked to the side at the sound of Sam's voice. It was almost eleven and it was Thursday. Steve had no idea what Sam would be doing here. He looked up at her small framed body while she just gave him a_ 'Well, are you gonna tell me or not?' _Look_. _

Steve was drenched in sweat and panted on the bench from a rigorous outlook. He had missed this week's session with Sam and the kids and he felt pretty bad. He didn't want to give Stark anymore reason to find out any more about Sam, and he blamed himself for trying to be selfish for wanting her as a friend. Speaking of Stark, Steve has been avoiding Stark as much as possible, and I a bigger challenge when he lives in the tower that the man owns.

He snorted.

"Captain Underpants? Really?"

"I read the short stories when I was younger. You know how much of a book nerd I was. Besides, I knew that it would get your attention."

"For a second there you sounded like someone I know," he said in a lowered voice. He looked down at his flawless knuckles. There was not a scratch or scape or blood stain on his fists. It used to anger him the way his body now functioned, like the time he realized that he couldn't get drunk because his body burned the alcohol before it could affect him. But he couldn't look her in the eye for the guilt he was feeling for missing his session. Despite everything he missed Sam and Dominick and all of the kids. He didn't want to just abandon them.

"Okay Steve, want to tell me what's up now? I've let you pout long enough and withheld blowing your phone up when you skipped out on us on Tuesday, speaking of which, remind me to make you pay for that later. Now tell me what's up?"

"What makes you think something is up?"

She only gave him a look.

"They know about you," he sighed, his shoulders hunching in on his body.

"Who knows about me?"

"Them. The Avengers. Stark, Bruce, Natasha, Barton. All of them. Well, not Thor. He left to see his Jane before Stark spilled the beans, but the rest of them know about us. And what makes it worst, is that Loki was right there to hear it all!"

"Whoa! Call down Steve, I'm not following. What do you mean 'spilled the beans' about me, what exactly are you talking about? And who's Loki?"

"Loki is Thor half-brother. Thor is the—"

"The hunky one with pretty hair?"

"...yes, Sammy."

"The one with all the muscles?"

"Yes, Sammy."

"The one I'd like to—"

"Samantha!"

"I was only going to say 'officially meet', sheesh! He's not my type."

"What is your type anyway? You said the same thing to me when we first met."

"Nope. Don't try and change the subject. What 'beans' are we talking about?"

"Well, I stopped Stark before he could cross too many boundaries, but he did reveal your full name and who you're related to."

"And that's a bad thing because..."

"Did you not hear the part where I said that Loki was there when he gave out all of your personal information?!" Steve jumped up angered for her. He didn't understand how she could be so cavalier about all of this. "And he didn't have any right to read all of that out to them in the first place, whether Loki was there or not. It was none of his business.

"How about you bring that 12 back down to a two?" Sam said. She was laidback and easy going, but there were buttons you just didn't push. In fact, you'd want to stay far, far away from those buttons as humanly possible because you didn't want to be anywhere near her when she got upset.

"And I heard what you said, but if this Loki guy is so dangerous, then why is he back here in New York. I'm pretty certain the Mayor didn't invite him."

"His father took away his powers as punishment and sort of banished him here for the time being to help us out in any way we want as punishment."

"And there you go. He's just like everyone else now. I'm pretty sure you guys can handle him. Besides, you act as if Stark saying my name is like some cataclysmic thing."

Steve looked down and remained silent. He fidgeted with his hands and feet, which was an odd sight for a man of his stature. He pointedly tried to ignore the burning stare of his small but scary friend.

"Steve..."

"I...may not have told them about meeting you and the kids."

"Steve..." She sighed this time.

"I'm sorry!" He burst, looking to her. His eyes begged her for forgiveness. "I just kind of wanted to keep you and the kids all to myself. Living with Stark and most of the Avengers makes it really hard to have your own privacy. I just wanted to keep our friendship just between the two of us for a while. Everyone I know and are friends with, so are the rest of Avengers. I just wanted you to be my friend."

Sam couldn't help but to forgive Steve with his big blue eyes. His attractiveness didn't hurt him either. Sam couldn't even be mad at him for it. Growing up with three older brothers and an ex-Air Force dad made it pretty hard to have her own life. She was the baby and the only girl, which means while she was doted on, she was watched at all times. Any friends she had had to have been approved of by both her dad and her brothers. She understood exactly what Steve was feeling. And it only added to her warm heart that he considered her as great of friend as she did him.

"That's sweet and all Steve, and I'm grateful that you were defending my honor and all, but you really didn't have to. I don't have a problem with them knowing about our friendship. In fact, how about we all sit down and eat. There's this shawarma place my brother keeps bragging about and has been pressuring me to go to."

Steve hesitated.

"You don't have to, Steve. If you don't want me to meet your friends-"

"That's not it. I just...are you sure? They can be...a bit overwhelming at times. I don't..."

"You don't think that I can handle myself?" When Sam's left eyebrow rose Steve knew he had made a terrible mistake. He stuttered in his struggle to redeem himself.

"May I remind you who it was that whooped the other's butt in the speed bag and in sparring?"

"To be fair, the speedball did break, so that doesn't even really count. Plus, the sparring session, Dominick distracted me!"

"He did not!" Sam laughed.

She was glad Steve was turning back into his regular self, the Steve she originally befriended. She wouldn't lie and say that she planned on becoming friends with Captain America. As a really young girl, she had at first resented the Captain a little because her father adored the man so much. But as she got older, she realized it was only her petty jealousy and her insecurity that her resentment stemmed from. Once she acknowledged this she was able to truly appreciate the Captain, but she never really idolized him as her father did.

When she first met the Captain she had feared that he would be snobbish and arrogant from the attention and adoring female friends. Tony Stark was like that. Although she couldn't really be mad at the man for being arrogant when it came to his intelligence, because the man truly was a genius; he was a deserved arrogant, but he was still a man-whore.

Steve packed up his workout gear and he replaced the punching bag that he broke once again before leaving with Sam. Steve walked her down the street to the corner where her car was parked and watched as she drove off into the distance before heading home. Steve wasn't the slightest bit shocked to see that the little woman drove a huge jeep. It was a forest green color, and although he couldn't tell the name brand since he wasn't that much of a car man, he could tell that it could probably rival a tank. It was easy to forget sometimes that Sam had been in the Marines.

Sam did possess some of the qualities that he'd seen many officers possessing, but her personality made it so easy for him to forget. She held her head high, always looking someone in the eye, and never backing down. Her back was always straight whenever they were outside, but when she was around him she allowed herself to relax. Sam never kept her back to the door. Wherever she stood or sat she always made sure that she faced the door and her back was always to the wall.

Thinking about Sam's past marine career brought Steve back to the comment she mad earlier. He had to admit that his ego was a little bruised that the little woman had bested him. Sam had this unique ability of making others underestimate her, and it worked in her favor because the second that her opponent underestimated her, she could tear them down. Steve stupidly did the same. Partly due to the fact that he judged her by her appearances, which he knew was really shallow of him, but he couldn't help it. Sam's stature practically screams 'protect me'. Steve did well in the beginning, watching her foot movements, and her patterns, and just when he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him by swinging first and at a rapid succession. She caught him off guard and he had been stunned that she landed every hit and kit. Her hits weren't that hard, but the repetition definitely began to add up and he was on his back before he realized what had happened.

Sam surprised him. If he were a lesser man with a much bigger ego, he would swear the Sam tricked him somehow; that she really wasn't who she said she was and was in fact something other—other than human. It wouldn't really be all that unusual because of recent events for her to be something other than human, but Steve knew better. Sam was just a better sparring partner than he was used to and she could hold her own.

It was one of those rare days for the Avengers. One of those days when none of them had any previously made plans and they could all just relax with one another. None of them has said it aloud, but they secretly cherished these days where they all could come together. The only thing that made this time different was Loki's presence.

This was the first time since he's been here that he has actually left his room other than to eat, drink, or use the facilities. He was upstairs on Tony's floor sitting at the kitchen island beside his brother Thor who sat casually on top of it.

Thor had gradually gotten accustomed to the ways of the Midgardians. Jane has been a major help in the area, and to a lesser extent Darcy Lewis. Jane's presence alone could calm the God. Her touch could make him melt. The man who had at one point been a belligerent and arrogant fool was now a tamed, _slightly_ less impulsive and _minutely_-quieter man. It may not have sounded like much, but anyone who knew Thor knew that it was a significant change and it was all due to Jane. While Jane made it her mission to teach Thor all the basics and necessities he would need to living and being with her, Darcy took it upon herself to sneak and tell Thor about the _lesser_ necessary things. Most of them made Thor blush as he was not used to hearing such things so casually. Jane often scolded Darcy for telling Thor such things and then things would turn back to normal. Thor adored Jane and it was clear to everyone that the God of Thunder was in love.

"We need something to do today," Tony announced as he poured himself a glass. His tried hard to ignore the beginnings of a crack that had formed when Thor placed his body on the counter and he strolled over to the large sofa unit he had that wrapped around the entire living room area.

Clint allowed himself to lie back in Tony's chair because it was extremely comfortable, but he kept his bow and arrows right next to him just in case Loki decided to do anything sneaky. Clint was dressed really relaxed today in a pair or loose sweatpants and a tank top.

Natasha sat across from him in a pair of skin tight jeans and a corset that was barely concealed by a blazer. By looking at the sexy Russian you wouldn't be able to tell that she had nineteen weapons on her body. Her hair was down and their natural curls and only further added to the innocent look she had going on. Bruce couldn't help but to sneak a few peaks at the assassin, but scolded himself numerous times and looked away. The last time Clint and he made eye contact and Bruce blushed and cleared his throat after he looked away.

Clint wasn't at all staggered to discover Bruce's attention was on his best friend. Natasha always dressed to kill—literally and he knew that the doctor had to be lonely. Bruce was a pretty upstanding guy in Clint's opinion, it was just his other side that he wasn't all that okay with. After the incident, Tasha told him about the move Loki pulled on the aircraft and how it unleashed the Hulk. To say that he was pissed about Hulk attacking Tasha would be an understatement, but he didn't fault Bruce. Not really, anyway.

"What do you suggest we do, Stark?" Steve had not forgotten Sam's offer that she made a couple nights ago. Today would be the perfect day to introduce everyone and he wanted to get a feel for how everyone would think about the idea.

Tony was shocked by Steve's cordiality, especially since he has yet to apologize about the other day. But he responded nonetheless.

"I was thinking about hitting a couple of clubs tonight actually. I'm interested in seeing how the green machine parties," he chuckled nodding at Bruce whom shook his head in response at the optimistic man.

"Not going to happen. If we do anything today, I say we head somewhere low key. I've worked nearly 48 hours straight and loud music and a hangover are nowhere near the list of things I plan to do any time soon."

"Me too. I just got back from Algeria two days ago. My muscles are still pretty sore and if I get bumped into by some drunken sixteen year old who snuck her way into the club, the Avengers are going to be very well liked anymore." Natasha agreed. Going to a club just wasn't what she was in the mood for tonight.

"This 'Club' of which you speak of sounds painful in description. I think I recall Darcy mentioning something of the sort. Ms. Lewis doesn't paint many things in a how do you say, attractive beam of energy."

"Good light?" Bruce corrected.

"That as well," Thor nodded.

"Well then what are we going to do?"

"Uh, how about that restaurant we went to after the Battle?" Steve threw out there. He blushed at the sudden attention he gained. Everyone stared at him in varying degrees of shock. A couple were just astounded that he mentioned the topic most of them avoided, others were surprised to see that he wanted to go to a place that was a favorite of Tony's. One was surprised he had a good idea at all. _Three guesses as to who that was._

"_My_ Shawarma place?" Tony asked.

"It's not _yours_…but sure."

It was quite for a few more minutes before Tony spoke again.

"Nope. I don't buy it. Why all of a sudden do you want to go there, huh? I've been suggesting that place for weeks, and let's not forget that it is one of my favorite food spots to hit. Why would you suggest going there?"

Steve refused to give Tony the satisfaction and only shrugged, keeping an innocent look on his place.

"…or maybe…maybe it wasn't you who suggested this place."

"Of course I—"

"It was her, wasn't it? Your secret lover?"

This caught Clint's attention. Ever since he'd seen those photos it was hard to get the image of that beautiful woman out of his head. He caught himself having a dream about her a few nights ago. He had to do something that he hadn't done since he was a pre-teen and he felt so embarrassed about it, but he couldn't help his reaction to her. If he could get this hard after just a glance, Clint couldn't imagine what it would be like to actually be near her. He bets the feel of her skin was even softer than he imagined.

"She's not my—"

"Who is this lover of secret of American Captain that we speak of?" Thor inquired looking lost. Loki thought derisively that it wasn't a new look on his face.

"She's just a friend, Thor. A friend _only_. And so what if she suggested it. She said that her brother has wanted her to check it out and thought it would be a good idea if she meets you guys," Steve struggled with trying to make it seem like no big deal. Despite what he may say their opinions of Sam will matter. If they don't like her it would be really hard for him to be comfortable around her and that would be devastating. He really needed this to work out for him.

"I'm down for it, say four-ish?" Tony suggested. He was eager to meet the woman that has the prudish Captain in a knot.

"Sounds cool with me," Natasha shrugged.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I'm into too," Bruce agreed.

"If I am meeting a lady friend of the American Captain's it is alright if I bring my Jane?" Thor asked. Thor's entire demeanor softened at the mere mention of her name.

"Yeah, uh, sure. That would be great actually. I think she would feel more comfortable if another woman was there," Steve shrugged. When he noticed the look from Natasha he hurried to fix his error. "Not that you aren't one! It's just that…well, you can come off a bit…"

"Like a bitch?" Tony proposed. Steve glared at his choice of words.

"No!" he snapped. "You come off a bit distant and rough around the edges."

"If this woman of yours—friend or not—can't handle being around me then that's just too bad. She'll just have to get used to it," Natasha cracked back at the both of them. It stung more than it should to hear both of them refer to her as that. It was untrue. In fact, Natasha would usually agree. But recently something has changed and she's been trying to…get a new outlook, shall we say, on life.

"Right. Uh, how about you, Barton?" Everyone's eyes snapped to Clint. He was out of it but snapped back to reality at the mention of his name.

"Huh? Oh yeah, whatever. It's cool," he shrugged. He felt awkward all of a sudden and he didn't like the feeling at all.

"Then it's settled. We'll finally get to meet this Samantha of yours," Tony smirked taking the last sip of his drink.

"She's not mine! I mean, she is, but not like that!"

"Does no one care of my input in all of this?" Loki questioned.

His answer came in a resounding no from all members of the Avengers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys. Just updated another chapter of Never Let Go and decided that I should update this one too while I'm in the writing mood. Unfortunately I have not yet seen the Avengers: Age of Ultron move yet, but I plan to see it soon. I seriously can't wait to see it! Anyway, someone asked what was the paring of this story, Clint/Sam or Steve/Sam and I thought I made it kind of obvious, but maybe not. I don't really want to spoil it for those who want to just wait and find out, but if you read the last two chapters you'll get a pretty good idea of the relationship between Steve and Sam. *hint hint***

**Also the point of view kinda switches from third person to first person towards the middle/end of the chapter. I hope it doesn't confuse you too much.**

**Disclaimer: I don't possess any rights to any of the characters or names associated with Marvel's Avengers or X-Men. Kind of wish I did, but I don't. Sam Saunders and the rest of her family, however are mine.**

* * *

"You're finally letting us meet this guy you've been bragging about lately?"

Samantha rolled her eyes at her brother, Joey, who was busy brushing his hair in the mirror. I don't brag about him. I've barely even told you guys much about him. The only things I mentioned were some of the details you guys managed to squeeze out of me.

"You're damn right we squeezed that information out of you. We don't trust men to just be _friends_ with our little sister. You're a Saunders. If I look this good then you can't look that bad." Darrel inputted.

Sam didn't even bother rolling her eyes had her older brother's comment. She was used to it at this point and didn't really pay much attention to him anymore. Sam wouldn't say it out loud but she was nervous about meeting Steve's friends. He's talked nonstop about them even though he doesn't realize it, and she knows practically everything about them. But she still wanted them to like her. Her old insecurities from her high school days were resurfacing and she hated it. The Marines nearly whipped all out of her system, but it still rarely shows its ugly head. And today it was grotesque.

Sam knew that if she didn't make a good impression on Steve's friends today, their friendship would most likely be over. And she wasn't ready for that to happen. Steve's the only friend, besides the kids at the Boys &amp; Girls Club, she's made in New York and she wasn't quite ready to lose him. He was a really great guy. Funny, smart, nice, and despite what her brothers like to tease her about, she truly only saw him as a friend, nothing more. Speaking of her family, she was really nervous about her family meeting Steve and his friends too.

Her family can be a bit…overbearing at times and can make even the strongest of characters run for the hills. It was the main reason why she didn't date in high school. Everyone was either scared of her father, one or all of her brothers, or her. Each and every one of them have strong personalities and can intimidate people, but none more so than Valerie. Seemingly harmless and sweet at first can quickly turn into a raging bull if pissed off. Everyone in the household knows not to piss off Momma. Momma gets mad, and when Mommas mad, nobody's happy.

"Baby girl, you ready?" Samantha heard her father call to her. She did a quick look over of her family before answering. Her father was dressed in a crisp suit as always. But the suit did nothing to hide the bulging muscles that lied under the suit and his height makes him look even more menacing. But his smile made his overall appearance gentler, and she guess that's the best she's gonna get. Her mother was astonishing as always, in a teal dress that matched her father's tie. Her hair was down and relaxed. You couldn't even tell this woman was battling cancer. Darrel was in a clean pair of jeans a t-shirt that only had two light stains on them—that's definitely the best she was going to get. Liam was dressed to the nines, as always in a pressed tailored suit, and Joey was in a simple pair of pants and a button down.

Sam decided to go with a relaxed look as to not look like she was trying too hard. Steve's mostly seen her in sweats and jeans, so she decided to just put on a pair of nice jeans that hugged her figure, a nice long sleeve shirt, and some timberlands. The weather was pretty cool lately and she needed to dress practical. She opted out on wearing her old Marines hoodie, she didn't want to make it seem as though she was purposely trying to intimidate them.

"Yhup, Daddy. Ready to go."

* * *

"Does everyone have everything?" Steve fretted. Steve may have looked calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside it was though a bomb of anxiety went off inside of him. He was a mess. He didn't know how this day was going to turn out. His friends were an unpredictable bunch and he's heard enough stories from Sam about her family to not know how they were going to react.

"Yes, Mom. We have everything." Tony smarted.

All in all, there was going to be 17 of them at Shawarma joint. Tony booked two large tables for the group. Everyone turned out to meet Steve's mysterious girl, despite the fact that he's tried to make it very clear that she was not _his_ girl. They were _just friends._

Clint leaned against the wall near the door. Steve convinced him not to bring his bow and arrows so Clint agreed. So Clint brought his collapsible bow and arrows that can stealthily be hidden away and pulled out at a moment's notice. Natasha was out of agent gear, for a change, and into a fitted skirt, blouse, and waist belt. Kitten heels accompanied her outfit to tie everything together, and Bruce in his usual pants and button down get up couldn't help but to sneak a few peeks at her.

Tony was a in his usual suit and tie and Pepper was in a nice formal dress. Despite Tony's explanation of the affair, Pepper wanted to make a good impression. Happy lounged on the couch ready to go in a pair of jeans and a cheap t-shirt that read 'I Get Wet for the Marines'.

Steve didn't find it all that funny.

Thor sat happily next to his beloved Jane and stared adoringly at her in her dress pants and blazer ensemble. He thought she never looked better. Although, in his defense, he does say this about every outfit she wears. Darcy sat beside them scarfing down on a greasy pizza just narrowly avoiding getting grease stains on Tony's couch. Darcy had on a pair of cargo pants that fit tightly around her ass, a hoodie she found in Jane's closet, and a jean jacket.

Loki sat on top of the kitchen island observing the group. Thor took his Asgardian robes and now he has to wear whatever Tony gives him, which today included well-worn jeans, a band tee, and a hoodie. To say that Loki was not satisfied would be an understatement.

Steve did one last head count before nodding to himself and throwing on his leather jacket.

"Alright," he checked his watch, "We should be leaving right now if we want to make it there on time. I told Sam half past noon, so…" Steve gestures towards the door. The Avengers and company exited Stark Towers and traveled by foot to Tony's shawarma joint.

Everyone in the small restaurant looked up at the entrance of the group of eleven. They stuck out like sore thumbs. A bunch of misfits. A courageous hostess stepped up to the group.

"Do you have a reservation?" She managed to squeak out. She gulped nervously as she eyed the group.

Tony tilted his shades down and looked her in the eye as much as he could—her eyes kept shifting—and nodded his head.

"Stark, party of 17."

"Right this way Mr. Stark."

* * *

"So when's your girl coming again? 'Cuz I'm getting hungry."

Steve looked down at his watch again. His knee bobbed up and down beneath the table. It was nearly fifteen minutes they had been there. He didn't want to call and make it seem like he was being clingy or anything, but he wondered if she forgot.

"She's coming. She must have been held up by traffic."

"Good afternoon. My name is—"

"NO!" Thor cut the woman off. She look startled at his outburst.

"I just—" she tried again.

"Can you see not that we are awaiting more friends of Steve?" his face was stern and voice seemed to be scolding her. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she just turned and swiftly walked back to her post.

Jane rubbed his forearm. "You scared the poor girl half to death Thor." Thor face blanched before his eyes turned panicked and apologetic.

"I mean not to half kill someone. I know murder is frowned upon here." He asserted.

"Frowned upon, hm? Well that says something, doesn't it? If that's how he interprets New York." Tony commented.

"Can you be quiet for five minutes?" Steve moaned pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I can if there were food in my mouth. But look-y here—oh! There is no food. And what do you know? There are six empty seats as well! Face it Spangles, you've been stood up!"

"Tony," Pepper scolded smacking his chest softly.

"I have not been stood up. His wasn't a date!"

"Of course it wasn't a date because she didn't show up."

"She is going to show up, she just running late—"

"Keep telling yourself that pal," Tony scoffed. The pair was beginning to attract an audience. Most of the occupants at the table rolled their eyes and sighed at the two bickering teammates.

"Excuse me, Mr. Stark? _Mr. Stark_? MR. STARK?!" the hostess from earlier shouted effectively putting a halt to the increasing argument. Everyone on that side of the restaurant looked over at the now red-faced hostess.

"Yes?" Tony prodded gently as though she were a caged animal.

"The rest of your party has arrived," she moved aside to gesture towards Sam and her family. Sam waved at Steve and smiled nervously. Steve smiled back and stood up. Everyone at the table followed Steve's lead and stood to greet the newcomers.

"Hi. I'm sorry we're late. Someone didn't go to the bathroom before we left the house," Sam explained glaring at her youngest older brother who only shrugged in response.

Steve walked over to greet Sam but stopped short of hugging her when taking notice of the way her brothers and her father stood. They each had a 'no nonsense' look on their face and their arms crossed. Large muscular arms. Steve could probably easily take them but they were scarily looking enough to make him hesitate.

Steve reached out hand towards the oldest looking gentlemen."

"Steve Rodgers, sir."

"Steve Rodgers?' The man halted before reaching to shaking his hand. His eyes widened before carefully looking at the blonde man in front of him. "Y-You're him. You're really him. Wow! I can't—this is unbelievable."

Sam and her mother rolled their eyes at her father's fan-girling. He enthusiastically shook Steve's hand. He then stood up straight and saluted the captain who returned it nervously.

"No way. I don't believe that you're really him," Darrell snorted. Sam punched her brother in the arm, hard.

"Shut up fudge nugget. It is him."

"Then how come you didn't tell us then, stupid?"

"Because it was none of your business, douche-muffin. Plus I knew you wouldn't believe if I did tell you."

Valerie pinched both of her children on the arms for their behavior. They both winced and rubbed their arms before looking down and apologizing.

"I sincerely apology for my family's behavior. They are not usually like this," she smiled at the group who just stared at the newcomers. Her family proceeded to rolling their eyes at Valerie's lie. They were actually worst normally.

"It's okay, Mrs.…?" Pepper walked over to shake hands with Valerie.

"Saunders. But please, please call me Val."

"Okay, Val. I'm Virginia Potts, but most just call me Pepper." She shrugged before firmly shaking hands with the elder woman. There was something about Valerie that made Pepper feel like she was greeting the Queen of England. The beautiful brown skin woman had a regal aura about her.

"It is wonderful to meet you Pepper," Val smiled.

"So if you're really him," Darrell rolled his eyes, "then who was your best friend before and during the war?"

"You don't have to answer him Steve," Sam cut in.

Steve smiled obligingly, "It's okay Sam. Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes. And let me guess, you're Darrell?"

Christopher smiled even wider and could be seen bouncing on the balls of his feet if you looked close enough. It looked odd to see this man, who just was just standing frighteningly stiff and strict a minute ago, now reduced to a star-struck fan boy. Darrell tried not to show it, but he was a little star struck on the inside as well now that Steve confirmed that it was him.

Joey introduced himself to Steve and then Liam. Liam smiled charmingly at the Steve.

"It's because of you that I realized that I was gay," Liam's statement made Steve's eye widen and his cheeks turn a rosy color. Sam slapped a hand to her forehead.

Tony laughed raucously.

* * *

"I was not!" Steve protested furiously, a blush spreading quickly across his face.

"He totally was! He was checking me out! And at the time I was thinking, is this guy serious?! Does he not see the dozen kids standing right beside me? But know, his eyes were like lasers!"

Sam had the entire table captivated. She had the entire group hanging on to ever word tat she was saying. They laughed at the funny parts and teared up at the sadder anecdotes, but they reacted perfectly to whatever flowed out of her mouth.

"Captain? Our Captain America? Steve Rodgers was checking you out? And I thought the two of you were just friends," Tony smarted. This had the two rolling their eyes.

"We are just friends," Sam confirmed.

"Thank you Sam. Maybe now all of you will believe now that you hear her saying it. Sam and I are just…" Steve said and the two looked to each other and smiled, "Really good friends."

"Yeah, I don't know, the two of us just clicked." Sam shrugged her shoulders. "But we're seriously only friends. Me dating Steve would be like Liam dating a girl."

"Barf!" Liam exaggeratedly vomited air into his hands.

The table laughed at Liam's display. Hi brothers and sisters just rolled their eyes and shook their heads at their brother. The group dispersed into small cliques and continued to enjoy themselves for the rest of the afternoon.

Darcy and Liam sat on either side of Steve and made it their mission to see who could make him blush the most. At this time, Liam was winning, but Darcy was never the type to give up.

Thor had his arm threw over Jane's shoulder as they listened to Joey's tales of his trying to make it on the big screens. Thor laughed uproariously when Joey described his first audition.

"One minute I'm going over my lines and then the next thing I know I'm being called into the room. Now, there's the writer, or creator, the director, and then you have two casting agents, and then another from PR. All of them were on their phones and looked so disinterested before I could even open my mouth. I barely got passed the first sentence before I'm hacking all over myself!"

Jane scrunched up her nose and tried to contain her chuckles and giggles whereas Thor had no problem letting the entire restaurant know how humorous he found the situation.

"The crazy thing is, walking back slumped over covered in puke wasn't strange to anyone in Hollywood. One guy even patted me on the back and nodded his head like he knew what it's like to be in my position. Auditioning is no joke. You guys wouldn't understand, it's a dangerous world out there."

This got Joey a pointed look from group. He cringed and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Oh yeah."

Darrel, Valerie, and Christopher were talking to Dr. Banner about his experiences in the work force. Darrel damn near idolized Dr. Banner and Valerie wanted to know what being in the field is really like. Natasha bragged about Bruce which only made him blush even more. Valerie's eyebrow rose at the behavior between the two. A mother always knows.

**SamPOV**

"So, you were in the Marines?" A quiet yet strong voice asked from beside I. I turned around only to make connection with whiskey shaded eyes.

His face was round, but his jaw was sculpted and dusted lightly with a beard that only looked a couple days older. It looked like he had just rolled out of bed and didn't feel like shaving. It was definitely sexy.

His hair was an odd blend between a dirty blonde and a dusty brown color. But it looked soft and well kept. I remember Bruce showing me pictures of him, Clint Barton, but he looked different from his pictures. Granted it was taken a month or so before the battle months ago but, still. The sides of his head were saved low and he had his hair in the man bun type do that a lot of guys were wearing nowadays. Usually that would have turned me off, but it looked good on him. It added to his manly appeal.

His lips, those were my favorite part of him. They were a soft pink color and full. The kind that was just the right size to bite down on when caught up in the throes of passion. My eyes drifted down to the shirt that he wore that strained against the muscles of his chest and his biceps. From what I could see of his legs that didn't disappear under the table, his dark jeans were tight against his sculpted thighs.

My eyes flickered back up to his when I realized that I had been caught checking him out. But I guess it made us even since he was doing the same to me.

"Uh, yeah. Straight after high school. I loved it while it lasted." I finally managed to reply. I bit my lip in embarrassment of my behavior.

This didn't usually happen to me. Sure I find guys attractive from time to time. And no I don't particularly have a type, I like what I like and I know what I like, but me having this kind of attraction for someone is strange for me. It threw me off and made me feel slightly awkward, and I don't get awkward. I hate being caught off-guard and uncomfortable.

I schooled my features as to not betray any of my thoughts.

His eyebrows furrowed, "Why did you leave?"

His voice was deep and husky. The quietness of his voice didn't cover the strength of it though, I could tell that this was a man that could give orders but was used to working alone.

"Family issues," I replied shortly.

He nodded his head.

"What about you? I mean, I can tell a soldier when I see one," I said after a minute of silence between us.

He laughs shortly, "Why would you assume that I'm a soldier?"

I gave him a look, "The haunted look on your face. By the look in your eyes I can tell you were miles away. I can spot that look from across the room. I'm used to seeing in my dad's eyes, well not so much now since he's been worried about my mom more often, but sometimes he would just zone thinking about his time at war. PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it's a real thing. Sometimes it even incapacitates you…." I trail off for a bit, "But I also your demeanor. Your back is still straight despite the fact that I can tell that you would rather hunch your body over. Your eyes flicker up every now and then taking I your surroundings, you take note of everyone that comes within three feet of this table, your chair is angled so that your back isn't to the rest of the restaurant or the door, and your left arm is rested firmly on your thigh,"

His eyes are widened as though he hadn't expected me to say all of that. But didn't a look of confusion passes across his features.

"What does my arm has to do with anything?"

"I know you're the bow and arrow guy, Hawkeye? I think. You're right handed. I'm going to take a guess and say that Steve made you all keep your toys at home, but you just couldn't part with at least one your body. It must be hidden in your jacket or in some type of holster. With your left hand in that positon, you can quickly pull out your bow and your right hand can attach and shoot an arrow."

His mouth is in a tight line before his lips twitch minutely. His eyes are narrowed on me. Analyzing me once again. But this time his gaze is more intense. He looks like he wants to read my thoughts. His lips form a smirk.

"It's a retractable bow and it's in a holster on my right shoulder. Captain did tell us to leave everything at home but I never go anywhere without it. But I'm no soldier."

"Then what are you?"

His eyes drop down to the table and he frowns. I had to consciously keep my hands from reaching up to massage the crease in his eyebrows that formed. The look on his face made him look older and weary. I didn't like it.

"Discontent." He answered shortly.

Our eyes locked on one another and I couldn't pull away. It was something in the way that he said that made me one to crawl into his lap and curl up into his biceps. He looks warm. And strong. But I doubt a cuddle is the only thing he needed. I tried to think back to what could have happened to make him feel this way. Discontent.

But that's the thing. I didn't know him. The only thing I knew about him is whatever Steve has told me, which isn't much, and from what I've noticed now. But that's hardly enough to go on. I didn't know Clint Barton. And Clint Barton didn't know me. But there was an ache inside me that yearned to know more about him. Anything. Everything. And it scared me. That itch that was quickly turning into a slow burn got hotter and hotter the more he made me wonder. And I hated it. I hated how much he made me want to get to know him. To want him. But I couldn't help it.

I wanted to be burned.

"…right, Sammy?" my head jerked to the side to make contact with Joey.

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes at me, "I said tell them about the time you—"

An ear piercing scream streaked through the restaurant shocking everyone to silence.

All of our heads twisted around to look for the source of the scream. There, standing in the middle of the room was dressed in all black. He was slim, but the sleeve of one of his arms wall pulled up enough to tell that his arm were muscular in a lean type of way. Veins angrily popped out of forearms as he held a struggling little boy against his chest who desperately tried to claw his way to his distraught mother. The man's face was covered with one of those drama masks. He had had a group of men dressed similarly to him all holding different caliber weapons.

Focusing on the main in the middle, he was clearly the ring leader. He held a gun to the little boy's head and jerked him several times roughly to keep him still. The child's mother was held back by her husband who was furious and scared. Everyone looked onto the scene in disgust of the men's actions and, horror that a child was being put in harm, and anxiousness that they may not survive this outing.

"No one moves! My buddies will be coming around with bags, put all of your valuable items in the bags coming around. Anyone moves or tries something funny and this momma gonna have to say goodbye to her little boy!" The main in the middle spoke threw his mask.

"NO! My baby!" The mother cried in anguish. Her sobs were heart wrenching. My jaw clenched in anger. People like this piss me off.

"SHUT UP!" The ring leader shouted at the woman pushing the gun against the child's scalp making him whimper out. HE turned around to his company and jerked his head in a general direction.

"Hurry boys, in and out. Go around now!"

My eyes watched with precision as his lackeys moved around the restaurant at ease. This wasn't the first place they hit this routine and this wasn't the first time that they've been to this restaurant. I wouldn't even put it past them to have discussed how to get in and out and maneuver around the spit b looking at a floorplan of the restaurant. They were better and smarter than most criminals, but they were still stupid.

They made the mistake of picking the worst day possible to rob this particular restaurant with the Avengers here, an ex- air force pilot, and an ex-marine.

"You got a plan Cap?" Tony whispered through tight lips. He clenched his fork tightly in his hand.

"I would suggest taking out his boys first, but by the time you take out the first one the others and the leader would have realized and that little boy won't make it," Steve whispered back clearly.

All of our eyes followed the men as they walked around stopping at each table and collecting watches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and money.

"Is smashing heads out of the question?" Thor's voice rumbled as quietly as the God of Thunder could.

"Quiet! No one talks! Matter of fact, everyone raise your hands slowly and hold them on the table. Keep your mouths shop or this lady will be mopping up her kid." He chuckled menacingly, "Blood is really hard to get out of a carpet."

One of the men at the next table spun around with is gun to make sure that the tables were following his boss' orders. His eyes stopped on our table. We all raised out hands slowly and placed them flat on the table. He turned back around slowly, eyeing us along the way to finish collecting the items from the table beside us.

"Thor, we want to do this without getting anyone killed our traumatized for the rest of their lives," Tony snorted.

"Oh please, they live in New York. Getting robbed is like a rite of passage. This won't traumatize them," Natasha quipped.

"Clint, can I know you brought one of your bows. Can you reach one and quickly disarm the leader?" Steve whispered keeping a close eye on the man finishing up at the table beside us.

"I could reach my bow but not my arrows. Besides I wouldn't be able to move fast enough to hit all the targets before this man finished and take out the leader." Clint whispered angrily. I know he was just as upset by this occurrence as I am. All of us were.

I had to thing fast. The team of superheroes I sat with were still furiously whispering back in forth about how to handle this situation. But I knew waiting longer would only decrease our chances of coming out victorious. I glanced around the room to note the positon of all the men in the room. I noticed a control panel right behind the leader. Luckily a good number of knives were in reach of me. My hand quickly clasped on the knife nearest to me just as the man near us turned towards our table. I took in a deep breath and without thinking about it I threw the knife.

The lights in the restaurant went out just as I heard a shout of pain. I knew it came from the ring leader but I didn't focus on that as I closed my eyes to quickly visualize the setup of the men before the lights went out. And I had to act fast. My arms had a mind of their own as they blindly reached for the knives and threw them at all of his lackeys. The sounds of screams and shouts and bodies hitting the ground and tables sounded within similar time frames.

And I breathed out.

The sound of a machine coming together and starting up followed by a bright light brought my attention to Tony He suited up in the time I had taken out all of the men.

"JARVIS connect the arc reactor's energy source to the restaurants," Tony commanded.

A mumbled robot voice said a short response before the lights in the restaurant came back on. Everyone blinked back into focus as their eyes adjusted. Looking around all of the men were down for the count with knives sticking out of various areas. I looked away from the men to see the little boy sobbing in his mother's arms who checked his carefully for injuries. And that made it all worth it.

"What. The. Hell?!" Tony exclaimed looking around the room to notice that all of the men were down for the count. The leader laid a pool of his blood and his hand had been removed and was still clutching the gun.

Tony spun around to look at Natasha, but she wore a bewildered look as the rest of her team members. Everyone at the table looked at each other before realization came to a few people and eyes swung to me.

"Baby girl?" My father asked me with an eyebrow raised. He already the answer to his questions. I could see a mixture of emotions pass through his face: amusement, pride, astonishment.

My family had already guessed it was me, but when the rest of the table heard my father's voice their eyes followed the direction he was looking in and their eyes locked on me. Their eyes widened in looked at me in different degrees of disbelief and shock.

"Sam?" Steve asked warily. "D-Did you have anything to do with this?" Not looking like he really believed what he was thinking.

* * *

**Hey guys. Sorry to leave you guys like this…nah, no I'm not. But I am sorry for taking so long to update the story. Good news is I will have a lot more time on my hands from now on so you can look forward to faster updates.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys. I'm finally back from my short break. If you don't know my computer has been acting a bit funny lately so it made it hard to update, but I have also been updating my other works so that has taken most of my time. But I'm back. I left off at a pretty crazy spot and I know you guys want to just jump right in.

So let's go...

Disclaimer: Anything Marvel related does not belong to me. I wish it did but it doesn't. All of my OCs however are, so keep your mitts off 'em.

* * *

"Breaking News! A robbery and hostage situation goes horribly wrong. A group of men dressed in all black prepared to rob a Shawarma restaurant in upstate New York. The man identified as the leader grabbed a young boy and threatened to harm him while his accomplices took to gathering money and jewelry from the restaurant's occupants. Witnesses say that everything was happening so fast and they didn't really know what happened and all of a sudden the lights went out. When the lights came back on, the men were all either dead or seriously injured with knives served at the restaurant. No innocents were injured while the lights were out."

The woman whose son was apprehended by the leader of the gang appeared on TV.

"All that went through my mind was please don't let anything happen to my baby." She clutched her son closer to her body afraid to let him go. The little boy smiled at the camera.

"It was the Avengers. They were there and they saved everyone!"

The reporter looked at the little boy and pointed the microphone in his face.

"The Avengers were there?"

"Yeah. It was them and some other people. Probably superheroes. But they saved me and my family! It was so cool!"

"As you saw from the clip earlier the child claimed to have seen the Avengers. A few other witnesses and the hostess at her station during the failed robbery confirmed that Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man was in attendance. However, his teammates were not. He was seen, however, with a large group of people, but it is unconfirmed whether or not they played a role in what happened. We will get back to you later on this story. I'm Diane Warwick from New York Now News channel 17. Back to you Derek."

"Thank you Diane. Now on to some equally terrifying news. The Hamburger Murderer..."

The screen of the large television stationed on the wall flickered off and the screen went black. Sam could now feel the eyes of everyone in the living room boring into her. She hadn't said anything since the Shawarma Debacle (that's what she was calling it in her head) occurred. She didn't really know what to say.

"Sam?" Steve's voice called out to her. He had been trying to get her to look at him since they left the restaurant but she refused to look him in the eye.

Sam was afraid what she would see when she looked into his eyes. Disgust. Horror. Hate. She had just killed a numerous amount of men and critically injured on. Yeah she probably just saved more lives than she took but she didn't know how Steve Rogers, Captain America, would feel about what she done. It was instinctual, really, taking out those men. She had done it without a second thought, and if given the opportunity, she would do it all over again. However, she was fearful of what it would mean to her friendship with Steve.

"Hm?" Sam hummed still pointedly looking away from Steve.

"Can you please look up at me?" She felt him come closer to where she sat on Tony's uber comfortable and lavish sofa. His tone of voice confused her. It didn't hold any of the anger or horror she thought it would. But it did hold some caution in it, as though Steve was talking to a cornered wild animal.

That made Sam's head snap up. She glared at Steve for the way he was treating her. Sure she didn't want to lose his friendship because she felt it was special. She's never had this type of connection with someone, especially not one where their relationship was on simply friendly terms, however she wasn't going to allow herself to be looked down upon by anyone. Not even Steve I'm-So-Perfect Rogers.

Steve flinched back at her look. Out the corner of his eyes he could see Thor pushing Jane and Darcy slightly behind him and silently calling Mjolnir. But Steve waved his concern off.

"Sam I don't mean anything by it. I just want to know what happened back there. How did you-what did-where did you learn how to do that?"

Sam looked closely at Steve. His eyes were wide and amazed. His question was innocent and held mostly curiosity, but she could still see that lingering wariness within his blue orbs.

"Perfect accuracy." She said shortly. Steve and the rest of the people in the room, sans Sam's family, looked towards her in confusion.

"I have perfect accuracy. I can hit anything with anything. It may take me a while to adjust to a new weapon in my hands, but once I get used to it, I can hit any target that I aim at. And I didn't learn it anywhere. I've always been able to do it. It was one of the reasons why I was recruited into the marines."

Steve looked at Sam skeptically.

"Perfect...accuracy?"

She nodded.

"She's telling the truth, as unbelievably unfair it all is. She can hit anything with anything you give her. And she's always been like that. Which is why no one plays sports, darts, or Monopoly with her." Liam piggybacked.

"Wait...what?! Monopoly. What does Monopoly have to do with accuracy?" Tony asked bewildered. He stood near the television still holding the remote in his hand while the other arm crossed his chest.

"Oh, nothing. But Sam always finds a way to win at that game as well so I'm pretty sure she cheats then too."

Liam's family roll their eyes at him.

"There is no way that you just happen to have perfect accuracy like that without previous training," Natasha input. "No one is just born with the ability to take down a handful of men with knives in the dark."

"You can," Tony pointed out.

"She's a trained assassin." Bruce backed her up.

"Just what are you implying?" Sam's father Christopher finally returned to his usual intimidating persona and stood firmly with his arms crossing staring at the team of superheroes.

"Look. Sammy has always just been really good at throwing shit. I don't see why it's such a big deal." Joey shrugged.

Sam was glad that her family were backing her up. It's not as though she expected anything different, Saunders always stuck up for each other. But they were going up against the Avengers. A group of individuals they admired for their heroism.

"Well a mortal did just incapacitate, and nearly decapitated, a group of men that a group of highly trained, somewhat intelligent, agents were not able to. One of the agents is a God, one is a lab experiment, and another is a...green...thing. They find it highly improbable that an ordinary mortal such as your daughter was able to best them at something that they were specialized in and yet unable to do." Loki's slow and calculated drawl caused an uproar amongst the Avengers and company.

"That has nothing to do with it." Bruce disagreed.

"Are you baking cupcakes?" Darcy asked from the couch looking at the demigod. Jane pinched her.

"All I'm saying is that it is odd that she was able to pull off something we were not. She is untrained, unqualified, and frankly, the speed and accuracy she supposedly withholds is almost otherworldly." Natasha calmly added.

"Yes, but I really think we should acknowledge the fact that Loki is baking cupcakes..." Darcy murmured. Sam never did get to finish her food.

"Somewhat intelligent," Tony grumbled.

"It was a little strange. The speed at which she moved was at the very least, remarkable. However, stranger things have happened," Clint stated looking directly at Thor . It was Thor's turn to look affronted this time.

"Eye of Hawk-!"

"Did he really just refer to me as somewhat intelligent?" Tony muttered disbelievingly as he glared at the jokester from the top of the rim of his whiskey glass.

"Enough!" Steve shouted over them all.

The room quickly descended into silence at Steve's shout. He barely raised his voice. He was usually the ever so patient one out of them all. So it definitely grabbed their attention when he decided to yell over them all.

"No one is saying that we don't believe that your daughter—Sam, was capable of doing something that we could not. We may be specially trained assassins, or geniuses, or aliens, or even a chemically enhanced super soldier, but there are things even we can not accomplish. We're not perfect. If we were there wouldn't need to be a team of us." Steve clarified calmly.

Sam wasn't sure whether or not to believe what Steve was saying was true. He had no reason to lie, and frankly, she didn't think that Steve had ever told a lie in his life. But she couldn't ignore everyone else's incredulous stare, excluding her family. Even Clint, someone who she had hoped wasn't as closed-minded as the rest of his friends, couldn't hold back the slight disbelieving tinge that she could see creeping in his eyes.

"Look, I'm not asking any of you to believe me. You all asked and I answered. I don't know what else to tell you since I've always been like this. I've never had some top secret surgery performed by some underground lab professors or fell from the sky, I was born this way. And if you don't like that then, well..." Sam stood up and tightened her jacket around her.

All of the Saunders followed Sam's lead.

"Sam wait—" Steve called out.

Sam put a hand up. "No, Steve. I have nothing else to say and I'm not about to beg anyone to believe me. I don't know any of you and could give a damn whether you believe me or not. Thanks for lunch Steve."

And with that the Saunders left, one by one, none of them giving even the slightest of a glance backwards. Loki peered over the counter at the exiting family before looking back at the gathered group.

"If I may-" Loki began licking green frosting from of his finger.

"You can't." Clint grunted forcefully glaring at the demigod.

Loki continue anyway, "-I was actually looking forward to the shawarma this afternoon. Also, today could have been a lot worse." He shrugged pouring what looked like sprinkles on his cupcakes. "I had plans to 'accidentally' start a fire in the mens room."

Darcy stood and peered over the counter at Loki's creation. She looked up at him and waited for him to make contact with him. He quirked an eyebrow in question. She licked her thumb and quickly swept across his chin, before proceeding to lick the icing over her finger.

"Mm, I never knew green could taste so good."

Loki's left eye twitched.

* * *

Ahhh! I had to leave it right here. It just felt right. And I really needed to update so...here you guys go. I know, it's a really short chapter. Sorry ;). Leave me your thoughts. The review button is right below this. Can't get enough of them!

Never fear, the next chapter will be up to its long and delicious goodiness. We will see some new characters (hint hint—look at the crossover) and there will be a bit more about the Saunders' past. Maybe even a sneak peek into Sam's childhood. Who knows...?


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